GUILT BY JEFFREY LO (DOWNLOAD PDF HERE)
Lights rise on asleep AARON in a hospital bed.
GEMMA sits next to him.
After a few moments, AARON wakes.
AARON: Gem…
GEMMA: Hey.
Brief silence.
GEMMA: How are you feeling.
AARON: Um. Like shit. To be honest.
GEMMA: I can imagine.
AARON: Yeah. Suicide will do that to you. Attempted suicide.
GEMMA: Right…
AARON: I’ll be fine though. So they say.
Silence.
AARON: Um. Can I ask you a question?
GEMMA: What?
AARON: Why are you here?
GEMMA: Why am I - ?
AARON: You left me.
GEMMA: You tried to kill yourself.
AARON: But you left me.
GEMMA: But you’re still someone I know.
AARON: So for every person you know that tries to commit suicide, you’ll rush to the hospital?
GEMMA: If I know about it, I’d think so – yes.
Pause.
AARON: Not cause I’m special?
GEMMA: Really? Is this the time?
AARON: Fine… Fine…
Pause.
GEMMA: Can I ask you a question?
AARON: Yeah.
GEMMA: Why did you do it?
AARON: Why did I try to do it?
GEMMA: Yeah. Sure. Fine.
AARON: Isn’t it obvious?
Pause.
GEMMA: Figures.
AARON: What?
GEMMA: It figures you would do this.
AARON: You asked a question and I answered honestly. What more do you want from me?
GEMMA: I want you to… I want you to not be such a fucking idiot.
AARON: Ouch. Harsh.
GEMMA: Harsh? LOOK AT YOURSELF.
AARON: Whatever.
GEMMA: Yeah, whatever.
A nurse walks by the door to checks in after hearing the loud voices.
GEMMA: I better go.
AARON: Yeah. You better go.
GEMMA packs her things up and begins to exit.
She stops at the door.
GEMMA: You cannot blame this on me. You made a choice. And regardless of whether or not it was a smart one – you will not put this on me. I will feel no guilt for the choices you make.
GEMMA exits.
AARON sits in his bed.
The sound of hospital beeping.
Lights fade.
END OF PLAY.